Boulder Neighborhoods...Need Suggestions (Eagle: for sale, apartments, renting)

[amymcf]

I am moving to Boulder next summer with my husband. I was wanting to find out a little more info about the neighborhoods in Boulder (I know it's not a huge place, either!). Most likely, we will be buying a condo immediately, rather then renting for a while. I am very much trying to get into a neighborhood where we will really like and want to stay for a long time. something moderately priced ($250-300K), but I assume we could find that just about everywhere.

We are in our 30's, have 2 dogs, are very active in outdoor activities and no children (no plans to have any, either). I don't mind living near college students, however also do not want to be dealing with parties until 4am every weekend. We would prefer to be within walking distance of things (Pearl Street Mall, if possible, grocery, places to run errands, etc).

We went around with a realtor recently and saw a few places in Boulder, but it is hard to get a better idea of which neighborhoods will suit you best. I am hoping to gather any information about the areas/sides of town and what your opinions are on the demographics, amenities in each area.

Thanks so much!

[Noahma]

you wont find much inside of boulder for that price. the lots are extremly desierable and command a high price. my search returned 17 homes in that price range inside of boulder. most are under 1300 sqft. with the majority in the 900 sqft. range.

[amymcf]

We aren't necessarily looking for a huge house; probably more a condo. my husband and i went around with a realtor last week and saw 8+ condos, of which 3 or so we were very interested in. we are well aware that they're much smaller than what we are used to in the midwest and that we are looking at something 900-1000sf. we really don't need much more space than that, anyway. we have made the decision to move to boulder for the active lifestyle rather than to have a huge nice house and "keep up with the joneses".


it seems that there are, in fact, quite a few places (condos)...we aren't opposed to moving in somewhere that hasn't already been completely updated, etc. we are good at fixing up places and don't mind it. that certainly isn't one of our requirements.

i am really just trying to get some better ideas of the different areas of boulder. we are planning more trips out there this year and next to spend time, but it's always helpful to hear from others who live in the area and who may have suggestions.

[chilaili]

There are some apartments further north along Broadway that are smallish in size and possibly in that price range. You could try the new Holiday development altho that's definitely not walking distance to Pearl St. There are also several condo buildings down by 30th and Iris which is near a large Safeway supermarket. Run a search at coloproperty.com to get an idea of what's available in your price and size range.

[amymcf]

I am hoping to gather any information about the areas/sides of town and what your opinions are on the demographics, amenities in each area. (I don't necessarily need information on where places are in our price range....I first want to decide which area we'd like to live in).

[chilaili]

You might find this website useful: http://www.city-data.com/city/Boulder-Colorado.html. Or you could try the Boulder Chamber of Commerce. And strongly recommend a visit here before you decide to buy to explore the city.

[amymcf]

great...thanks for the link!

i have actually already been out there already 3 times this year and 1, possibly 2, more trips coming up still this year.

[Katiana]

Central Boulder is pretty much taken up by the university and retail. Like all cities, housing proceeds from older to newer as you leave the city core. The west side tends to be a bit "fancier" than the east, regardless of the age of the homes (also pricier). This is of course, in general.

There are students living all over, but there are more closer to the university. "The Hill" near the center of the university is a student nieghborhood with quite a few townies. The two groups clash frequently over noise issues, couch burning, trash, etc.

[tao]

I used to live on Eagle Way off 30th near Valmont. I checked out the listings and right now there's a 3 bedroom/2 bath 1986 square foot condo for sale for $274900 (you'd probably want to do some updating). There's also a 3 bedroom/3.5 bath 2331 square foot unit for $299000 and a 5 bedroom/3 bath 1995 square foot condo for $289900. These condos are in a subdivision called Glenwood Gardens which still looks to be a decent area. My husband and I were visiting Boulder in April and drove through my old neighborhood to check out my old condo and it looked like it hadn't changed much. I would live there again if we only needed a three bedroom place. When I lived there I used to walk to Pearl Street mall all the time so it's not too far from downtown (a two and a half mile walk approximately). It's really close to Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods Market, Target, Crossroads Cinema and the new 29th Street Mall (a couple of blocks away).

I'll PM you some more details about the condos I mentioned.

[marianne1952]

there are some nice and less expensive areas close by you might want to check out ...fayetteville, louisville,westminster to name a few..